A fresh political war of words erupted on Friday as presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, launched a blistering attack on the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), declaring that the party has “no plan for Nigeria” despite positioning itself as an alternative platform ahead of the 2027 general election.
In a sharply worded statement, Onanuga ridiculed the party allegedly embraced by former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, and former Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, after what he described as their abandonment of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
“Like ADC, the NDC has no plan for Nigeria yet,” Onanuga declared.
The presidential aide said he had visited the party’s website repeatedly out of curiosity, hoping to find a concrete manifesto capable of offering Nigerians an alternative vision to the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
According to him, his search ended in disappointment.
“Out of sheer curiosity, I have twice in the last few days googled the website of the Nigeria Democratic Party (NDC), the party that the political wanderer Peter Obi and his ally, Rabiu Kwankwaso, sought shelter in after abandoning the ADC midstream,” he said.
“I was interested in the party’s manifesto and whether it has enunciated a markedly different vision for the governance of Nigeria, one better than President Tinubu’s and the APC’s Renewed Hope Agenda.”
Onanuga claimed that attempts to download the party’s manifesto from its official website failed repeatedly, raising questions about the seriousness of the opposition platform.
“I was disappointed. Even though the site invited visitors to click on its manifesto to read it, the result was negative. ‘No document found’ was the response I got each time I tried to download the manifesto,” he stated.
He further took a swipe at former Bayelsa State governor and alleged NDC national leader, Seriake Dickson, accusing the party of lacking ideological depth despite claims that it would prosecute an ideological battle against the ruling APC in 2027.
“The party whose national leader, Senator Seriake Dickson, said would wage an ideological battle in the 2027 poll has not uploaded any manifesto since it was court-registered in February,” Onanuga said.
“What it flaunts are six policy nuggets that it characterised as pillars. However, the nuggets don’t read like pillars. They sound more like the platitudes the party’s newest catch, Peter Obi, has bombarded the nation with in the last six years.”
In one of his fiercest jabs yet at the emerging opposition coalition, the presidential spokesman described the NDC as “the camp for the politically displaced and desperate.”
“Senator Dickson, I look forward to your vision and mission for Nigeria, as your party appears to be the camp for the politically displaced and desperate,” he added.
The latest comments are expected to further deepen tensions between the ruling APC and opposition figures already mobilising for a fierce showdown ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
